Hardware Podcasts

Chobani: Hamdi Ulukaya (2022)

How I Built This · 14 Jul 2025 · 1h 28m

What this episode covers

Hamdi Ulukaya, founder of Chobani, recounts buying an abandoned yogurt factory for $700,000 in 2005 and scaling it into a billion-dollar brand by introducing Greek-style yogurt to the U.S. market. He details the operational struggles of early production, including sourcing centrifuges and packaging, and the rapid growth that led to a 2013 mold recall and a near-bankruptcy crisis. Ulukaya explains his decision to reject private equity buyout offers to maintain control, his hiring of refugees, and the eventual restructuring with TPG and a professional CEO to manage the company's enterprise-level expansion.

Most relevant to

founders before launch, early-stage companies, companies scaling up and large enterprises

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Chobani, Euphrates, ShopRite, Craft, TPG, Loch Colombe, Daily Harvest, Danone, General Mills, Whole Foods, Costco, Key Bank, US Bank
Tools
QuickBooks
Also
SBA

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